#.......help

charles suggests it as a joke one time--"you would be a monaco citizen, pierrot, think of the money you wouldn't have to waste on your milan apartment"--but they laugh it off, and the thought disappears.

at least. for a little while.

pierre thinks of it again listening to danny ric talking about juggling his time in monaco to retain his citizenship. it sounds like such a hassle, to settle there for the financial benefits but have a whole life elsewhere--and it feels dishonest, which he doesn't like. he'd never want to do it like that! at least if he were married to charles he'd have a reason to stay all the time--

and oh, when did that thought resurface? he must make some kind of expression because daniel stops mid-beer and is like "what, mate, are you the financial crimes unit now?" and pierre just laughs, having startled himself by the thought. "you're too busy for your own good, daniel," is what he settles on, but the way his brain had so readily supplied the charles option™ kind of has him thrown.

he mentions it to charles when they see each other at the driver's briefing on that race friday. "i was talking with daniel the other day and he said this thing--he's totally about to get caught with the whole monaco thing." and charles is laughing when pierre continues, "if i were your fake husband, i totally would not get caught." or something really kind of heavy-handed like that. and charles...stops laughing. "yeah," he says after a too-long beat, "but you'd have to be careful about who you date, you know." (pierre hadn't even thought about that part--seeing someone in secret while he's got some wedding band tying him to charles. it just hadn't occurred to him.)

they drop it.

but the thought resurfaces again, and again--the idea of being a citizen of monaco, of giving up milan because it's starting to become too much of a hassle and just...living with charles and paying less rent and not being by himself all the time? when he mentions it to ilies he just gets a loud burst of laughter and an "oh, yes, definitely" that sounds sarcastic but in a way that's got pierre raising an eyebrow.

it could work. it could be something they try.

he texts charles about it. were you serious?

about what? an immediate reply.

pierre's sweating bullets and he can't really figure out why. the citizenship thing.

charles...is typing for a while. pierre is hyperfixated on the little bubbles. then, after what feels like forever: of course p

so pierre just. takes the swing. you wanna marry me then? short sweet and to the point. he's expecting another agonizing wait.

sure is the reply he gets almost instantly. so fuck it! he'll get married to charles and pretend. it won't be hard, because they're best friends and he already spends plenty of time in monaco as it is. he's met the royal family, he's close to the leclercs, nothing really will change except his location.

...right?